May 2009
Fed Dread by Eliot Spitzer
The New York Fed is the most powerful financial institution you've never heard of. Look who's running it.
Buying Brand Obama by Chris Hedges
Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, our elected officials continue to have their palms greased by armies of corporate lobbyists, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East. Brand Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us.
Who Needs an Oscar Anyway?: Mickey Rourke's Homeboy by Kit MacFarlane
Homeboy
(20th Century Fox; US theatrical: 1988)
Now that the slightly patronizing lead-up to Mickey Rourke’s Oscar night is over and done with (and with the far more exciting prospect of Rourke appearing at this year’s Wrestlemania on the horizon), perhaps it’s time to take a real look at Rourke’s legacy, outside of the glare of that silly gold statue that has always meant more to Hollywood publicists than to real movie fans.
Appetite For Self-Destruction by Steve Knopper Reviewed
If you had even a minuscule amount of sympathy for the declining fortunes of the big record companies like Sony BMG, Warner, Universal, and EMI, it will be gone by the time you finish reading Steve Knopper’s Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age.
Splendor in the Grit by James Wolcott
If New York City were to slide back into the crumbling anarchy of the 1970s, as some fear, would that be so bad? The author recalls a time when artists’ lofts were inhabited by actual artists, every subway car held potential drama, and legends–Lennon, Warhol, Garbo–walked the streets.
Pirate Bay Trial Judge Friend of the Industry by Tobbias Poggats
Recently, a news reporter at Radio Sweden International uncovered the fact that Tomas Norström--the judge of what is known as The Pirate Bay Trial, the all-round calm and levelled guy who sentence the Pirate Bay four to one year in prison each and almost $4 million in damages--had some interesting hobbies. As it turns out, he is an active member of the Swedish Copyright Association.
Being Anti-Torture Doesn't Make You Pro-Terrorist by Matt Taibbi
"WASHINGTON — Torture is an impermissible evil. Except under two circumstances. The first is the ticking time bomb. An innocent’s life is at stake. The bad guy you have captured possesses information that could save this life. He refuses to divulge. In such a case, the choice is easy. Even John McCain, the most admirable and estimable torture opponent, says openly that in such circumstances, “You do what you have to do.” And then take the responsibility.
Surviving North Korea's house of the dead By David Wilson
The 59-year-old author of Long Road Home: Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor (Columbia University Press) is busy pursuing a family mission. So said his fresh-faced ghost writer Suk-Young Kim, adding that Kim Yong has yet to learn how to use e-mail, which makes it even harder to track him down.
Not So Fast: Don't Write Off Canada's Single Payer Health System by Mitchell Beer
When free-market alarmists who oppose U.S. health care reform storm Congress with their horror stories about Canada's public health insurance system, I don't know which system they're talking about.
It can't be the one that saved my daughter's life, keeps our family out of bankruptcy, or delivers a more consistent standard of care and higher life expectancy than the private system in the U.S., at lower cost per capita and as a share of gross domestic product (GDP).
Middle Class Healthcare Reform? Bend Over... by Donna Smith
It's coming. You and me and every middle class, working person in this nation is about to start handing over more and more of their hard earned cash to the private insurance industry, courtesy of our own elected members of Congress and our very popular President. Fire up those Treasury Department presses. We're going to be printing and providing money for insurance companies like no bail-out we've seen yet this economic crisis cycle.
Recent comments_
47 weeks 6 days ago
48 weeks 1 day ago